Trying to find my motivation

I'm feeling a little better today compard to yesterday. Yesterday was just... bad. But talking to my man last night really helped (he's so great!). He told me not to be so hard on myself and to just take a little break if that's what I feel like I need to do, try and get in some extra naps and just relax a little bit. I need to listen to my body... and today I did just that.

T and I had some one on one mommy/daughter planned this morning and we snuggled on the couch together and watched Alice in Wonderland. I fell asleep about 15 minutes into it for a good hour or so. Then she'd be asking to go to Swiss Chalet for a few weeks now so I took her there for lunch. They have some great healthy choices there, one of which I ordered... but I did eat a few of her french fries and a couple bites of her sundae. I took her to school and did an hour or so of work and then had another glorious nap. It felt so good to just lay in my bed! The kids are both in bed already and I think that even though I have a bunch of work to do, I will go to bed early and get in a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is a new day and the work will still be here.

As far as my motivation... well, it's still not back 100%. Cammy commented that I need a JOLT to get me going again, and that is probably very true. I've accomplished the feat of running the (what I thought) illusive 5K.. and now the high is gone. How sad is that? I was reading back through some of my older blog entries and I was just oozing motivation and drive. I really hope I can get it back. So anyhow, how do I JOLT myself? And please, don't just tell me to take a new aerobics class or something because that's really not my thing.

Here's what I did today to try and start the JOLT process:

- Cleaned out my closet. I took out everything that is now too big. I have a large laundry basket stacked high and overflowing and it feels great! Now to figure out what to do with it all... if anyone is in need of some transition clothes in 18/20/22, seriously let me know!
- Bought two new tops, both in size 1X!! I've never bought that size... ever!
- Downloaded a bunch of new tunes to liven up my stale playlist

Here are some ideas I've been playing with to continue the process:

- Make some appointments with a trainer.. maybe once a week?
- Considering switching to Core
- Considering doing some sort of a cleanse
- ??????

This is where I need the help of ya'll :) Any ideas for me?

Healthy You Check In

Do you ever just feel down.. for no good reason really? That's me right now. I just want to curl up in my bed and sleep for a few days and then maybe I'd feel better. Nothing particularly bad is going on right now... just the usual stresses of kids (with an extra dose of 4 year old drama added in there right now - she's driving me NUTS!!), work, etc. I also feeling like I'm getting sick and have an on again off again sore throat. I just feel crappy. So, I'm not sure if this is making it harder for me to get back on track food-wise or if I am feeling crappy because I haven't been doing so hot with my program. But overall, I wish I could just snap out of it! I made great plans to get back on program yesterday as I wrote about but it didn't last past late afternoon. I just wanted to eat everything in sight!! This morning I almost didn't go work out either. I haven't missed a workout in forever so you know this is bad. But I went... didn't run today though, just did 35 min on the elliptical. I'm so scared that I'm not going to be able to get back on program! I wish I could JUST DO IT but it's not feeling quite that simple.

Blah.

Anyhow, sorry for the whining and complaining. I'm hoping to have the chance later on today to read a bunch of your blogs and find some motivation.

Here's the update on my goals for April:

• Hit 10% goal by April 7 DONE!
  
• Lose 10 pounds by Mother's Day (May 11) 7.0/10 I'm 1lb further from this than last week
  
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week Not doing C25K anymore but I ran 5K 4 times last week!
  
• Do 1100 minutes of cardio Finished that today - I'm at 1105
  

Weigh In #16

It was no suprise to me that I had a gain today. The last week was pure craving hell, then was the birthday party Friday night, leftover cake.. yadda yadda. But whatever.. I'm not too upset about it and I'm prepared to move on and have great results next time. I just got home from the grocery store where I purchased tons of good food and I've planned my meals for the next few days (and I never do that). One of my goals for this week is to eat more salad and other veggies so those are definetly in the plans.

On another note, I earned 39 APs last week and I've been consistently running 5K in my last three workouts (followed by 35 minutes on the elliptical). I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be able to run the entire 5K course on the Mother's Day run coming up. And if I can do it in less than 36 minutes, I'll be thrilled.

Anyways, it's measurement day for me here.. it's always fun to see how much my body has changed in the last 4 weeks.

4 weeks ago
238 lbs
43.5" waist
46" hips
45" bust

today
231 lbs
41" waist
45.5" hips
44.25" bust

Total difference this month: 4.25"
Total difference since start: 18.25"

I have now officially lost 10" from my waist!!! Amazing!!

What's on your Ipod?

Stealing this from Hanlie.. but it looks like so much fun!

The rules are simple: Hit the shuffle on your iPod (or in my case my MP3’s random selection), then answer each question by hitting next. No cheating!

Q: What does next year have in store for you?
A: Fighter - Christina Aguilera I hope not!

Q: What does your love life look like next year?
A: Saturday Night - Whigfield

Q: What do you say when life gets hard?
A: This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race - Fall Out Boy

Q: Song that reminds you of good times?
A: Tell Me What Your Sippin On - Britney Spears Ha, that's works

Q: What do you think when you get up in the morning?
A: Move Your Body - Eiffel65

Q: What song will you dance to at your wedding (or silver wedding anniversary?)
A: Sweetest Girl - Wyclief Jean

Q: Song that reminds you of your first kiss?
A: Rehab - Amy Winehouse (sooo laughing out loud right now!)

Q: Your favourite saying?
A: Stronger - Kanye West

Q: Favourite place?
A: Give it To Me - Justin Timberlake

Q: Most missed memory?
A: Umbrella - Rihanna

Q: What song describes your best friend?
A: Break the Ice - Britney Spears

Q: What song decribes your ex?
A: See You Again - Mylie Cyrus (sheesh, I hope not!!)

Q: Where would you go on an important date?
A: It's Not Over - Chris Daughtry

Q: Drug of choice?
A: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

Q: What song describes yourself?
A: Never Too Late - Three Days Grace

Q: What is the thing you like doing most?
A: She's So Sorry - Hedley

Q: The song that best describes the President?
A: Shut Up and Drive - Rihanna

Q: Where will you be in 10 years?
A: Over You- Chris Daughtry

Q: Your love life right now?
A: Pocket Full of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

Q: What is your state of mind like at the moment?
A: Slow Motion - Third Eye Blind (yeah, that's about right - it's so past my bedtime!!)

Q: How will you die?
A: Garden Grove - Sublime

Give me sugar!!!

I'm craving sugar and sweets reallllly badly this week. It's not been good at all. I'm thinking TOM is to blame... and honestly, I hope it just shows up sooner than later so I can get out of this phase! The good thing is that the only sweet foods that I have in the house are rice krispie squares (2 points each) and Fiber One bars (2 points each). Oh, and pudding. So, my points have been under control for the most part and I'm getting all of my fruits and veggies in but sheeeeeesh! I feel like I could just eat and eat. Go away munchies!!!

On another note, it's my mom's birthday on Friday and I am planning the party. Does anyone have some low point dessert recipes that are delicious? I also want to make a dip for the fruit... I know there is a yummy low-cal one made with I think yogurt and....... something else. Cool whip maybe? Does this ring a bell with anyone? I can use all the help I can get because if there aren't decent low point options, I have a feeling that with the sweet tooth I have this week that I could really blow it. Thank you!!

Healthy You Check In

Woo! I love Tuesdays and giving a little update and taking the time to check in on all of you!

Not a whole heck of a lot to report here.. I had a loss this week, (-1.0lb) but it wasn't quite as much as I was hoping for. I was feeling extremely munchy yesterday and I have a feeling that TOM is around the corner. I really should keep better track of when it's expected to arrive but I've never been good at that. I really can't wait until next Monday when I should finally be out of the 230s!

When I posted the other day about M being overweight, I've gotten a few comments about being in a relationship with an overweight man. I agree with what Hanlie said in that when she was with a fat guy, she got fat too... and this happened to me also with my ex (who was not super fat but overweight and out of shape). I have never been thin but I was in awesome shape when I first met my ex. I still weighed approx. 200lbs but I had just finished a summer working as a landscaper so I was buff! LOL I think I put on at least 20-30 lbs that first year (and so did he!).. and well, it just went from there. I would never want that to happen again! I've worked too hard and still have a long ways to go and can't get back into those old habits. But that said, I've always been attracted to bigger guys.. probably because they made me feel small and safe and secure. M is probably bigger than I would normally be attracted to... but his personality is awesome. Anyways... can you tell this whole issue has been spinning around in my head the last few days?

Here's an update on my goals:

• Hit 10% goal by April 7 DONE!
  
• Lose 10 pounds by Mother's Day (May 11) 8.0/10
  
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week Not doing C25K anymore.. I ran twice last week and then my knee was sore so I did BOSU instead
  
• Do 1100 minutes of cardio I'm at 850 right now so I should make it!
  

I can't wait until next week to do measurements!! Have a good week everyone!!

Weigh in #15

It's that time again... and I'm down 1.0 lbs today. I was hoping to be below 230 today (seems like I've been in the 230s forever!!) but I'll have to settle for 230.0. Oh well... I did pretty well last week but made a few choices over the weekend that could have been better. But a loss is a loss and I'm good with that.

Happily the knee pain that I was complaining about last week seems to be okay at the moment. It was sore at times during my run this morning but there is no long lasting pain afterwards so hopefully it's okay. My elbow.. that's another story. I have a feeling it's tendonitis or maybe carpel tunnel because it mostly hurts when I move my fingers or when I try and straighten my arm all the way. And it is on the arm of the hand that I use my mouse with... not that I'm a doctor and know anything. I think I'll make a Dr appointment to have it checked out in the next few days if it doesn't ease up. I'm just glad it doesn't interfere with running!!

Anyways, that's all for today. Check out the post below for details on the big date!!

Date Update

I know you guys have all been on pins and needles waiting for this update LOL :)

Well, we got an enormous amount of snow (yes, SNOW) the last few days so I was extremely worried about the drive I had to make Saturday morning to meet M. I started out.. got about 30 minutes away and then decided NO WAY can I make this drive. I was passing car after car in the ditch and while I felt like I could probably make it to Drumheller, I was more worried about the drive home later that night. So, I called M and he offered to come all the way to Calgary (cuz he's sweet like that). We met at the mall and we had lunch and just hung out... I had the little ones with me (because remember, we were originally supposed to go to the Dinosaur museum). Things were very comfortable, just like they had been on the phone. After a while, we brought the little ones back home so my mom could babysit. Yep, he even met both of my parents already. We went to a late afternoon movie and dinner afterwards. Honestly, it was a great day... and I think that things worked out for the best with the changing of plans. There was some really nice hand holding, cuddling at the movie and quite a few little kisses snuck in there. It was really... well, nice.

So how do I feel now? Well, this is something that I feel really badly even to admit. He was a little heavier in person than in the pics that I had seen of him. That's really not the end of the world because obviously I have weight to lose as well. His style was well... lacking, but again, not a huge deal because he knows he has no style LOL and it's nothing a few shopping trips couldn't fix. And really, how often is it that you find someone who's personality so completely meshes with yours? We have so many things in common that it's almost freaky. Our beliefs and values are very much alligned.

In the truck just before he dropped me off at home, he asked me if I was his girlfriend. I kind of giggled when he asked because it sounded a little junior high school-ish but sweet at the same time. I said yes.

I used to be so attracted to the "bad" boy. M is definitely so not. He is so "good" that I've found myself questioning if he is for real. I'm feeling a little bit of an internal struggle within myself.... actually I dumped my first boyfriend (who was also a "good" boy) because he was too nice. Why would I possibly want to be with someone who was not nice? I don't know... and I realize that I'm jumping a little ahead of myself and should just be taking this one thing at a time and seeing what happens. M has made it very clear that what he's looking for is for a good woman to marry, basically just to love and look after. He wants a couple kids, the minivan, the camping family vacations, the picket fence... you get the picture. That's what I want too... at some point.

(I wrote all of the above last night and am finishing this Monday morning)

To be truthful, I really don't know how I feel at the moment. Nice is good... but I want more than that. I'm feeling a little shallow because what if he had been 50 lbs thinner? Would I feel differently then? I just don't know. And, I guess I don't really need to know right now. We'll see what happens.

My aching legs.. sorry, I'm whining

I had this brilliant idea a few days ago that I should start doing exercises in the kitchen while I am waiting for the microwave, toaster, kids to eat, etc. Mostly I've been doing squats, with the odd set of pushups or plank in there. And today, it caught up to me! My legs are killing me!! But in a good way, of course.

What's not hurting in a good way is my knee and my elbow. My knee started hurting at the tail-end of my run on Tuesday. I thought it would be okay by today so I started my run... and 90 seconds into it, I stopped. I am really scared that I will hurt it really badly and it will force me to stop running for a long period of time. So, I upped the incline and walked for my 20 minutes that I had before my BOSU class. Really hoping it's fine again by Monday!

Speaking of my BOSU class - what fun!! For those of you that don't know what it is, you use once of these:



It really works your core and is fun and bouncy at the same time (LOL). I think I will try and add this class into my Thursday workout routine.

Anyways, BIG DATE countdown... just TWO more sleeps!!!!! *insert giddy laugh here* So far it looks like I'll be safe regarding the snow and driving... I'm making cookies for my boy tomorrow... hopefully I can keep my fingers out of the cookie dough!

Rebellion

For whatever reason, I feel a little rebellious today. I've been working hard all week both diet and exercise-wise and this morning when I weighed myself, I was the same as I was on Monday. WTH? Okay, the logical part of my brain knows this is silly - it's only been two days afterall. And this is not my usual pattern, especially if I have been eating well, which I have. Actually, I didn't even eat all of my points the last two days.... maybe that is the problem? So we had a lot of running around to do.. the kids check ups at the Drs... picking up our Easter portraits... getting T ready for school and swimming... so, we ate lunch at the mall. This mall doesn't have a Subway, so I gave in and ate a gyro from my favourite greek place (Opa! for all you locals). I was okay with that... figured I'd eat a light dinner and everything would be fine. But by dinner time, I was exhausted and not in the mood to cook. And of course the family wasn't either.. dad brought in Chinese and my brother ordered pizza! Thanks alot guys. So for dinner I ate two dumplings and a few pieces of ginger beef and half a slice on pizza. I can already feel my stomach complaining. Yuck. But whatever... it's one day and I really didn't overdo it. But I can't help but think that if the scale would have shown a loss this morning that I would have made better choices. Now how does that make any sense?? All I can say now is bring on the water!!!

Healthy You Check In

I think I have spring fever! Warmer temperatures (though I heard we are supposed to get snow this coming weekend BOOOO) and a little bit of love in the air are making me feel super energized and happy. I just really really really hope that we don't get too much snow or at least that the rain/snow doesn't make the road conditions too dangerous for me to go on my date on Saturday! It's a 1.5 hour drive to where we are meeting so will you all do me a favour and keep your fingers crossed that the weather report will change??? Thanks :)

Well, I just got home from another 31 minute run. 31 minutes you may ask? Yes, 31 minutes LOL. You are allowed max 30 minutes on the cardio machines at the Y and I sort of squeak in the 5 minute cool down as well and the first minute of the cool down is still at a running speed (albeit a much slower pace). So yes, 31 minutes running followed by 35 minutes on the elliptical. My knee was hurting for the first 10 or so minutes of my run (maybe I need new shoes?) but seemed to go away. And I improved my distance today - 2.62 miles (up from 2.54 yesterday). All in all, a great workout and a whopping 10 AP.

Now here's a question for all of you other WWers out there. How important is it to eat your APs? I rarely do. And if I eat any of them, it's only about 1-2. Being that a typical workout for me is now 10 APs, should I be eating more? Or should I just wait and see how my losses go? As you can see over on the right hand column where my losses and APs are, there really is no correlation between the two numbers. What to do, what to do...

Regarding my goals for this month:

• Hit 10% goal by April 7 DONE!
  
• Lose 10 pounds by Mother's Day (May 11) 7.0/10
  
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week Not doing C25K anymore.. but I got 4 runs in last week and will get at least 3 this week
  
• Do 1100 minutes of cardio I'm at 629 right now and seeing as its the 15th today, I'm right on track (even a bit ahead woohoo)

Now, last but not least, I was tagged by Natasha!

Rules of the game:
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs
5. leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged

So here's my seven random things:

1. I used to be disgustingly flexible. I could do the splits all three ways and hold my leg straight up and and literally kiss my shin.
   
2. I almost died when I had my first daughter. Of course I didn't know this until two weeks later and the doctor so kindly informed me. I knew my blood pressure had spiked but I didn't actually realize how serious it was.
3. I first got married when I was 20. Yah, ummm bad choice.
4. I used to have an ebay store. I sold mostly new and used kids and women's clothing. When the Canadian dollar started matching the US dollar, I closed up shop. It just wasn't worth it anymore.
5. I was in French immersion in both junior high and high school. Oui, je parle francais. (but not very well anymore)
6. I once met some real satanists. We went to their house on the Sunshine Coast. They had all kinds of weird art on the walls of human sacrifices and other disgusting images. It was incredibly scary and I just wanted the heck out of there.
7. I once stayed at a hippy commune near Nelson, BC. It was actually sort of cool and everyone was very kind... but all of their vegetarian, organic food was not my cup of tea.
   

So there ya go! As you can tell, I've been on quite a few adventures in my life LOL. But haven't we all?

I am going to tag....

Erin
Hanlie
Selma
Heather
Manuela
Briy
Patti

If some of you have already been tagged, sorry! Pass it along! :)

Weigh in #14

Well, I'm certainly not as excited this WI as I was last time but considering my huge loss last week (5.6lbs), it's only realistic to expect a smaller loss. This week I am down 1.4 lbs. I was hoping to be out of the 230s... but then again, yesterday had some bad eating choices so I should just be happy at 231 for this week. But next week, I'd better be out of the 230s!!

You know, I really don't struggle with cravings. I am strictly a creature of convenience and the times I get into trouble with eating for the most part are when I don't eat a proper meal, then get stuck or desperately hungry and just eat whatever is quick or whatever is right there. And unfortunately, because I live with my parents and two younger brothers, there is frequently a fair bit of not so good food sitting out on the counter. Yesterday it was a box of deliciously delectible chocolate fudge brownies from M&Ms. OMG so good! But I'm paying for it today.. my mouth gets all sore when I eat foods like that with a lot of sugar in them. I have a big sore on the inside of my cheek today.

But anyways, the weekend wasn't all that bad. The weather (as you other Albertans know) was absolutely beautiful!! On Saturday morning, I threw baby K in the jogging stroller and headed out for a run around the neighbourhood. My entire route was about 5.24 km and I ran about 4km of that. I walked twice - once threw a really muddy section and again up a huge hill. All in all, very happy with that. My neighbourhood is very hill so it's next to impossible to find a route that wouldn't have at least one huge hill in it. I'm really trying to work on cutting the walking time out of my runs because I want to run the Mother's Day 5K from start to finish with no walking. So today I ran 31 minutes straight on the treadmill. I've always been curious to see exactly what distance that would equal and today, at my slow speed, it was 2.54 miles (or 4.09 km). So next, I'll be working on really increasing my speed.

I guess I've sort of quit doing the C25K program. Technically I'd be in week 7 today, which is 25 minute runs... but considering that I'm already doing what week 9 requires (at least time-wise), I think I'll just stop and do my own thing. But what a great program!! I never could have done it without the guidance the program provides and without the awesome C25K podcasts. If you haven't started it yet and you think you could never do it, try it. I really think you'll surprise yourself.

On the dating front... things are still very good. Only five more sleeps until our big date :) I never thought it was possible to have as much in common with a person... and to miss a person that I've never met. Is that crazy? Still need to figure out what I'm going to wear!!! I'm so so so so excited!!!

Thanks... and Alphabet Meme

First I just want to thank you guys.. the compliments and kind words you've all given me have made me feel simply amazing. I want to hug each and every one of you!!

I don't have much to report today.. I was supposed to do week 6, day 2 of C25K today.. but didn't feel like stopping after 10 minutes.. so I just ran and ran.. for get this, 38 minutes!! I followed that up with a 35 min elliptical stint and earned a whopping 10 APs today overall. I think that's a record! I felt so good that I went and got a pedicure LOL. It's all about the rewards!!!

Food has not been the healthiest today. I skipped lunch (I was talking to my man and just sort of forgot about eating... not sure what it is but he just has this way of making everything else in the world disapear..) and ended up eating a cheese bun in the late afternoon (ugh, 6 points) followed by 1.5 slices of pizza for dinner. By no means am I over in points for the day but the fat content has probably been a little high. I plan on having a snack in a little bit of some fruit/veggies.

Anywho, Cammy tagged anyone who hasn't yet done the alphabet meme to do it so here it goes!

A is for age: 28.. for a few more months
B is for booze of choice: Blah, nothing.. I haven't had a drink in years
C is for career: Career? What career?
D is for your dog’s name: our black lab Tyson that my parents have had since I was 18
E is for essential items you use/love everyday: my laptop!!
F is for favorite song(s) at the moment: Put Your Arms Around Me, Natasha Bedingfield
G is for favorite games: I'm addicted to Literati on yahoo games
H is for hometown: Calgary, born and raised
I is for instruments you play: nadda
J is for jam or jelly you like: pomegranate/blood orange.. it's SO good!
K is for kids: T, age 4 and K, age 18 months
L is for last kiss: K before she went to sleep :)
M is for most admired trait: yikes I don't know.. that I'm hardworking?
N is for name of your crush: Well, we'll just him M ;)
O is for overnight hospital stays: twice, after the births of both of my girls
P is for phobias: Snakes and lizards!! Oh, and mice (but only if they are in the house)
Q is for quotes you like: Can't think of anything right now
R is for biggest regret: Honestly, I have none
S is for sweets of your choice: Cookies!
T is for time you wake up: usually around 6:30am
U is for underwear: Jocky String bikinis
V is for vegetables you love: Asparagus
W is for worst habit: Procrastination
X is for x-rays you’ve had: wrist, ankle
Y is for yummy food you make: I make lots of good stuff!
Z is for zodiac sign: I'm a Cancer

So, I'll follow suit and tag anyone who reads this that hasn't yet done it yet. Have fun!

Good God ... That was really me

I never really had a "before" picture. I avoided cameras like the plague, as many of us do. But I was just working on a project for my church putting all the photos of the staff members on the website and was given this disc with pics of all of us that were taken last fall.... When I saw the one of me, my jaw dropped. I really didn't think I looked THAT bad at the time. I didn't see myself as that huge blob of a person. Gross. So, for motivation and to remind myself continuously that I never want to look like that again, here it goes up on my blog for all to see. (Look to the right in case you didn't notice). Part of me wants to do a little experiment and put on those exact same clothes and take a full body shot of myself to see the difference. But the other part of me is petrified that it won't be enough of a difference and that it will depress me. Anyways... thank goodness I have that other pic (my good hair pic LOL) to use instead of that other one!!!! And thank goodness that I am in charge of this project so that I can control which pic is being used!!! LOL.

New Hair

Alrighty... I played with my hair today and now I like it!! It's all very layered, which is definetly more flattering and now that I see it in pics, I think that the color is OK afterall.

Just a drive by posting for now.. gotta run and get baby K to her 18 month immunizations (fun time ahead!).

Healthy You Check In

Well, I never would have guessed that I'd get such a pretty new badge so quickly, but my awesome loss that I recorded yesterday bumped me over the 30 lb mark! Ahem, yes, that's 31.2 lbs to be exact. And something I didn't even realize until today was that yesterday was my 3 month anniversary being on Weight Watchers. What a fantastic loss to celebrate with!

My reward for achieving my 10% was to have my hair done... I wanted the works - cut and highlights and it was long overdue as I haven't had my hair cut in over a year. I was looking forward to taking some new progress pics and looking all hot with my new hair but it turns out that I hate it. Ok, maybe hate is a strong word... but it's definetly going to take some getting used to. The highlights are WAY lighter than I had expected.. I was hoping for a warm, caramelly shade but he used bleach! I am just not used to seeing my hair this light and to be honest, I'm really not even sure that it goes with my skin tone. The haircut itself is pretty good I think... but of course I don't like how he styled it. Tomorrow I will play with it and see if I can get it more to my liking. THEN I'll take some pics.

Anyways, as far as diet goes the past week, I've done really well. I've been on program the majority of the time and have honestly had a tough time eating all of my points. Last week it was because of the butterflies in my tummy... this week it may be partially that and partially because I've been kind of busy and just not thinking about food very much. I find myself getting to mealtime and really having to think about eating.. just not much of an appetite. What a huge shift!!

Exercise has been going well too. I did week 6, day 1 of C25K today followed by 35 minutes on the elliptical. Really, my cardio has been going well... but I've been avoiding the strength training for some reason. I mean, I know how to do plenty of toning exercises and how to use the weights for some reason, I've felt intimated to do so. I've also been so focused on just burning the calories that I haven't wanted to slow down and do the strength training instead (because I wouldn't have enough time to get in my current cardio regime and strength training on the same day and I really hate circuit training!). But, I would love to tone my arms up in time for summer... so I've been thinking about signing up for a few sessions with a trainer to get me working on a good strength training program.

Regarding my goals for this month:

• Hit 10% goal by April 7 DONE!
  
• Lose 10 pounds by Mother's Day (May 11) 5.6/10
  
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week Last week I only got two because Monday was my final fitness test at the Y
  
• Do 1100 minutes of cardio I'm at 338 right now
  

So overall, a great week! I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs and see how you all are doing this week!

Weigh in #13

I thought the number 13 wasn't supposed to be very lucky but this week, it seems the scale likes me. I am down 5.6 lbs!!!!!!!! I saw the numbers jump down when I peeked a few days ago but honestly, didn't expect them to stick. Not only did I pass my 10% but I am also down more than 31 lbs total now. Wow. Just wow. I think I'll probably spend the rest of the day doing a bit of a happy dance! But not only because of the weight loss... my boy just called me from work... said he couldn't stop thinking of me. It was just a quick call but made my day because it made me totally realize just how mutual the feelings are. It's all sort of crazy but really nice at the same time.

Okay, okay.. I suppose I owe it to you all now to give you a little more info about him now. I've been asked to write a mini post about the whole thing so here it goes. First of all, let's call him M. A few weeks ago, on a complete whim, I signed up for one of those match making sites. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular.. not even sure if I actually wanted to date anyone (I haven't since I separated nearly two years ago). But I thought I'd see what was out there. So I wrote my profile, not trying to impress anyone. Just putting it all out there - the real me. I sifted through the matches I was sent.. deleting most of them based on physical appearance. LOL, yep, call me shallow or superficial but if you can't actually see yourself with the guy, what's the point? So there was this one guy whose pic appealed to me. He lives about 5 or so hours from here, which I figured was a good thing because then there is less pressure to actually meet (remember, I wasn't really serious about this). I sent him questions and his responses intrigued me. We communicated back and forth and nearly everything matched. I gave him my email addy and we spent three days writing huge emails 3-4 times a day. Finally, we talked on the phone. And the next night, and the next night. And several more times since then. We've decided to meet up on Saturday the 19th. So yes, it's crazy, I've never met him but really have a huge crush on him already. But before you get all worried about me, I'm taking it very slow... and whether anything comes of it or not, it's been very fun to have feelings like this again and to feel like someone is into you. And hey, the fact that he has a really great smile, makes really good money, loves kids (and wants more), is very financially responsible (he owns a house, rents it out and is buying another - all this with no debt), has a really great family from the sounds of it - help too. Wish me luck!!!

Oh, and if any of you were readers from the very beginning of my blog where I posted about going to the psychic, I recently re-read the stuff she wrote down for me and so much of it has come true. It's scary really how accurate she's been. And one intriguing thing that she wrote that I happened to forget was that I would find love in March/April. So, one never knows.... :)

Quick post

I don't have a whole lot to report tonight... the weekend has been pretty good. I didn't get in a workout due to sick kids but I've been good with the food. I can't wait to see my scale in the morning!!

Anyways, I saw this cool link on Erin's page... it calculated that my life expectency was 87. Not too shabby! Try it and let me know what it says!

Bad about checking in..

Finally I have a few minutes to sit here and write! I appologize that I havent't been commenting as much as I would like on your blogs this week... This week has flew by and I can't honestly believe that it's already Friday. I had a had a work project that I had slacked off on a bit and I have been paying for it the last couple of days. The whole excitement of my little love interest (LOL) has had me rather distracted. So yah.. ummm, that's going well ;) It's been so long since I've been in this situation and I've pretty much had butterflies all week. However, that has been extremely helpful with the whole weight loss situation! I have barely had an appetite and I find myself feeling full about halfway through my meals. An early peek at the scales this week show that I am on my way to a very good loss this week.. I know it's not official because it's not Monday yet but we're looking at a number very close to 5 lbs already! Crazy but I'll take it.

In a way though, this leads me to another problem. Well, not really a problem but an issue nonetheless. The clothes that I bought just a few weeks ago are already getting baggy! I'm always glad to have this problem or issue or whatever but it could get rather pricey. I'm not all that concerned about my jeans yet, I just wash them after each wear to shrink them back but I don't know what to do about a spring coat. I have a nice sweater (zips up so like a coat) that was too snug to wear in the fall and it hangs off me now and looks awful. All my sweatshirts do that same thing. So, I need a spring coat. But really, it will likely only fit this spring so I don't want to spend a lot on it. I guess I'll go check out some consignment shops this weekend... any other suggestions? What do you do for your interim wardrobe?

Healthy You Check In

I've been waiting a few weeks now to finally be able to wear this badge! And I wear it very proudly!

Well, a new month is always a great time to review what worked and what didn't work from the last month and make new goals for the coming 4 weeks sooooo...

These were my goals for March:

• Hit my 10% goal by March 15 (4 lbs to go!!)
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week
• Do 1000 minutes of cardio in the month of March

Unfortunately, I still haven't hit my 10% but I am only 0.8 away from it now. I'm bound and determined that it shall occur by next Monday!! I did well with the C25K workouts (I sometimes got in 4) and did my first workout of week 5 today. I also didn't quite hit my cardio target... I ended up at at 910/1000 however I won't beat myself up too badly because I really didn't get started on it (because I was still working FT) until almost midway through the month.

New Goals :

• Hit 10% goal by April 7
• Lose 10 pounds by Mother's Day (May 11)
  
• Get in 3 C25K workouts each week
• Do 1100 minutes of cardio

I also need to continue to fight the battle of staying OP on weekends. I always find this tough but in order to meet my big goal of losing 50 lbs by my birthday (July 15), I can't afford to have many weeks with loses of less than a pound. Thank goodness there are no big eating holidays until Thanksgiving!!! LOL

I also have another little thing that's motivating me right now... on a whim, I decided to sign up for one of those online matchmaking sites a few weeks ago... keep in mind that even though I'm only 28, I haven't dated in about 8.5 years!! Anyways, there's really only been one match that has stood out to me and well, I think I have a little bit of a crush going on. So if I'm sickeningly happy and cheerful, blame it on that LOL. That's all I'm ready to say here in blogland so far, but I'll keep you all updated if anything comes of it :)